Who's the First to Hit the Ground?
by The Wicked Witch of Dingl
Summary: A fic about Garland’s family and the effect they have on him. I pretty much invented the whole family, explanation inside. It will boil down to a Garland, Brooklyn and Mystel friendship fic, and I might throw in The Blitzkrieg Boys, just to keep things in
1. Chapter 1

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

Summary: A fic about Garland's family and the effect they have on him. I pretty much invented the whole family, explanation inside. It will boil down to a Garland, Brooklyn and Mystel friendship fic, and I might throw in The Blitzkrieg Boys, just to keep things interesting.

_Unfortunately, I don't know half as much as I would like to about these guys. I've only seen Mystel once… I think it was against Max, if they ever bladed? And what I've seen of Garland and Brooklyn? I saw Garland's battle against Tyson, and I saw them right at the beginning, when they were watching Tyson blade against Crusher. And I saw a tiny bit of the Brooklyn vs. Kai battle, where Kai lost. If anyone can somehow send me clips or something, I would be very grateful. Contact me somehow. So enjoy…_

_Oh yes, one more thing. This takes place pretty much just after Boris was defeated, BEGA are all still under Boris, and Tala is still in his coma. And I made Garland English. I thought it would work better with the storyline._

_Apologies for OOCishness… and remember: Don't sue, Complain!_

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

Pax. That was what Garland called him. Not Brooklyn, nor Brooke, not 'boy' or 'brat'. Pax.

He quite liked it.

"But why Pax?" He asked. Garland just gave his funny half smile and turned away. But Brooklyn persevered. "Tell me!"

"Means peace. Stands to reason you're the most peaceful guy I've ever met. It's Latin." Where, or how he'd learnt Latin, was another question for another day.

Garland was well read and learned. In Brooklyn's world, people like that didn't talk to people like him. So he didn't ask.

But that didn't stop him wondering.

Not many people knew that Garland Seabalt had a twin.

Coryn Seabalt was the stronger, better-looking and altogether nicer twin. The boys said that they were non identical, but they looked more like each other than they realised. Both had long silvery grey hair, although Coryn had cut his so that he had a fringe that dipped into his eyes, and it only reached his shoulder blades. The marks on their foreheads were both red, and they were both heavily muscled. But there all similarities ended.

Coryn's chosen sport was football; soccer, if you like. He was good at it; after all, he was a Seabalt after all. He was cruel and sadistic, and had never done a day's homework in his life. Yet he still got straight A's. The reason? He made his twin do it for him.

The trouble had started when their parents had taken them to see a psychic, a few months after their birth.

"One of these children has been born steeped in sin, and wishes to do nothing but evil, the other has a soul so pure angels can do nought but bow before it."

Garland woke with a gasp, his silver hair flying around him as he sat up. He flicked on the light switch that was next to his bed and looked around, his features softening as he watched his friends sleep.

_Apollon? _He called silently, casting his mind around for his bit beast.

_I am here. Always here, young master. What troubles your weary mind?_

_He's here._

_Master, no. He is far from here. He is in Land's End, where you left him._

_And the others? _

_Kylie has a tournament in a couple of hours. She is sleeping. Marcus is fixing Bubba, it overturned last week._ Garland smirked as he thought of his elder brother's car, named 'Bubba' by all and sundry. _Adaira is riding; she is waiting for Marcus to fix Bubba so he can drop her at Badminton. Taylor is also asleep. Your mater and pater too. So should you be, master. _

_I don't want to._ Garland sat stubbornly up in the bed, like a small child.

_Don't tempt me. _Apollon chided mockingly. The bit beast's tenderness was the only form of love he'd ever known, after the prophecy had been made. They knew each other so well.

_Shan't. You can't make me._ Apollon pushed him down and enveloped him with his wings.

Garland was asleep within the hour.

The Seabalt family had split in half. On one side; Coryn, Kylie and their parents, Richard and Adele. On the other; Adaira and Taylor. Marcus sat on the fence.

The arguments were over the same thing. The twins. Or rather; which one was the good twin, which the bad. One side thought that Garland was the good, Coryn the bad and the other side felt the opposite.

It was no ordinary feud.

The next thing Garland knew, it was morning and Mystel was shaking his shoulders nervously. Mystel and Brooklyn took it in turns to wake him up in the mornings, because (a) Brooklyn said he was not going to play babysitter to someone who was born a mere two weeks before him and (b) Mystel said that Garland terrified the wits out of him when he woke up, because his eyes opened so huge, yet they were so vague,

Garland shook his head blurrily, trying to instil sensible, team captain thoughts into his head. It didn't work. He groaned and flopped back down onto the bed, closing his eyes. The next thing he knew, Brooklyn was assaulting him with a pillow. Garland groaned and cracked open an eye, searching for a weapon to attack his friend with. He could hear Mystel giggling shyly in the background as the silver haired blader and the red haired blader proceeded to have a very large pillow fight.

Marcus Seabalt was confused. Usually, he could switch his mind off as he tinkered with Bubba, but today, for some odd reason, his mind was running riot.

He was becoming forgetful. Where did he put that oil cap? And the new alloys, had he finished making them? It was because his mind was fixed on his baby brother. At twenty three years of age, he was almost directly in the middle of the clan. Garland and Coryn were seventeen, Kylie was twenty, Adaira was twenty five and Taylor was twenty seven.

"Oh Bubba." He sighed, running a hand across her gleaming paintwork. "When did life become so complicated?"

For Marcus did not trust his smooth talking younger brother. He much preferred the one who would stumblingly mutter a few words in your ear, and then help you design new alloys until he dropped, rather than the one who always had an answer, who would never dream of demeaning himself to help a competitor. So why didn't he join Taylor and Adaira then?

Because he was scared of being proved wrong. Marcus was a true Seabalt; he hated failure.

Today was a dark day. Brooklyn knew it from the minute he woke up. He couldn't work on a dark day. He couldn't do anything on a dark day. He just stared out the window.

"Pax?" Garland touched his shoulder gently. He gave no answer. Garland swung his feet around and joined Brooklyn in the window seat. "What's wrong?" Brooklyn just shuddered and muttered under his breath. "You don't have to tell me. But you can if you want."

"What's happening?" Ming Ming poked her head around the door. Garland just glared at her and she disappeared swiftly.

"You know, when I was little, my parents took me to see a psychic." The confession of Garland's was so unexpected; it startled Brooklyn out of his reverie. "I'm a twin. Bet you didn't know that. It was so unforeseen that they took me and my brother to a psychic. She said – she said…" Garland's voice trailed off into the darkness as he stared out the window. Brooklyn looked at him, interested despite himself. "_'One of these children has been born steeped in sin, and wishes to do nothing but evil, the other has a soul so pure angels can do nought but bow before it.'_" Garland shuddered, but kept going. "My parents decided to ignore the warning, at least, until my baby sister was born."

"You have a baby sister?" Brooklyn asked, confused.

"Had. When I was three. She died, at the age of four months." Garland's voice broke, in the gloom; Brooklyn could see a single tear track down his face. "Coryn and I had stayed with our grandparents, they lived in France. We'd been there for five months, so mater wouldn't be bothered by two hyperactive three year olds when she had a new baby. When we got back, when we finally got to see her…" Garland covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking. "Coryn saw her first. My parents called her Flavia. It means fair-haired in Latin. Then, I saw her. I touched her forehead… and her heart stopped."

"And your parents blamed you?" Brooklyn was shocked; the Seabalts were the model family for him, things like that didn't happen to model families!

"The family split that day. My parents ignored me, idolised Coryn. When we were of school age, Coryn went to a private school. I would have gone to the nearby hell hole, but my eldest brother, Taylor, managed to find enough money to send me to the same school."

"What sport does Taylor do?"

"He does three. Archery, shooting and fencing. He's best at archery; even at the age of fourteen he had fifteen thousand pounds to send me to school." Garland patted Brooklyn's shoulder and walked out the room. Brooklyn just stared into the garden.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had black days.

Adaira Seabalt removed her hard hat with a sigh. Something Marcus had said kept springing to her mind unbidden: _There's something wrong with the kid. I don't know what it is, but I'm scared for him_. She rubbed down her horse silently, nibbling her lip.

"Oh Petrova. What am I to do? I'm so scared for Garland." She whispered, burying her face in her horse's mane. Although she always seemed so calm, and in control, inside, her heart was breaking. She had to be strong.

It had been so long since she'd last seen Garland. All the time he'd been growing up, it had been her and Taylor that looked after him, from the minute the family looked down on him. Even though she'd only been twelve when Garland had gone to school. He'd left to avenge himself, to prove that he was just as good as Coryn.

Eventually, Adaira wept freely, her tears mingling with the snow that had started to fall.

Why was he doing this? Was he just as stupid as he sounded? Was he really such an idiot? All these thoughts travelled through his head as he made his way through the hospital. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the blue haired blader quietly closing the door he was planning to go through. He stopped when he noticed a pair of shoes on the floor and realised they were connected to feet.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kai said angrily, glaring at Garland. Garland scowled; he'd hoped that he wouldn't have to see anyone on his journey. "Well? Haven't you caused enough damage?" Garland ground his teeth. Then he opened his clenched fist, revealing a ring.

He'd found it in Boris' drawer the other day, when he'd been searching for any information on Brooklyn and his 'dark days'. It confused him. It was tiny, smaller than anything he'd ever seen, he couldn't imagine that anyone's fingers could ever fit in it. There was a tiny 'T' engraved on it. It reminded him of a signet ring. There were Russian words carved into the inside, but he didn't understand any Russian, so they were useless.

"That's Tala's! Where the hell did you get that?" Kai's eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them.

"That's what I thought. So that's what the words mean. I got it from Boris-"

"And what, you've come here to do more damage?"

"No, actually. I've come here to give it back. If you'd let me finish, I would have said that I didn't get it directly from Boris, well, I did, but he doesn't actually know. There was loads of junk in that drawer; he must collect it or something." Kai closed his eyes; Garland could see the Russian evaluating the situation.

"Alright, you can give it to him. But I'll be behind you all the time. So you try any funny business and you'll wish you were dead." The two bladers glared at each other, but Garland nodded slowly, agreeing. Kai held the door open for Garland and he stepped into the silent room.

What struck Garland was how small Tala seemed. How small, yet how powerful. His presence was commanding, even if he wasn't there.

"Tala?" Kai stepped up to the teen. "I hope you don't kill me, actually, score that, don't kill me, but there's someone else to see you. I'm behind you, so yell if you need anything." Garland noted the hope that was so transparent in Kai, that maybe hearing his worst enemy in the same room would terrify Tala into consciousness, and maybe he would yell for help.

"I realise I'm the last person you would ever want to see you like this, but that can't be helped." The quietness of his own voice surprised him. "I was going through Boris' desk the other day, and I found this. I thought you should have it." Garland pressed the tiny signet ring into Tala's palm and closed his hand. "I'll leave you now." He couldn't help but look at the monitors as he passed.

Tala's heart rate had sped up, just the tiniest amount.

Taylor Seabalt picked up his largest rifle and checked the ammunition. Most of the world knew him as an amazing archer; it would surprise them to find out that he was also a superb shooter and strong fencer.

"Tay?" Taylor spun around, his blue hair whipping around behind him. All male Seabalts had the same silvery blue hair, but all of them had it styled differently. Now Richard was older, his hair was cropped close to his head. Taylor kept his loose, Marcus had his tied back in a bun, Coryn's dipped into his eyes and was usually tucked into the back of his shirt, and Garland's was loosely tied back.

"Yes, Marcus?" Taylor turned back to his equipment, moving onto his swords and fences.

"When did you find out that Coryn was evil?" The question shocked even Marcus. He had no idea that that was what he was going to say. Taylor was silent for so long that he was afraid that he wasn't going to answer.

"I'll tell you, if you'll battle with me." He said quietly. Marcus nodded and Taylor threw him a sabre. When Taylor practiced, he disregarded his armour and merely concentrated on his technique. As they battled, Taylor began to explain.

He'd first found out when he was fifteen. He'd come home early from an archery tournament; he hadn't even got to shoot, as one of the more novice archers had accidentally shot the judge in the backside. As was Taylor's custom, he began to make his way towards the twins' playroom, intending to talk to Garland about his day, and marvel at how clever the five year old was. Recently, Garland had begun to talk about one of the teachers at school, a PE teacher, female. Name of Bowden. How she had said that, if he continued working hard in her class, she would give him a beyblade, which was apparently what they were learning about. The way Garland talked about beyblading reminded him of how he talked about archery, how Adaira talked about Petrova, how Kylie talked about tennis, how Marcus talked about Bubba. It looked like Garland had found his forte. The day before, Garland had said that she'd promised to give him it the next day. As Taylor reached the door, he stopped, something making him pause before quietly opening the door, not knowing that it was going to change his life forever. He stifled a gasp as he saw Coryn standing above Garland.

"I'm the eldest. If it wasn't for me, then you wouldn't be here, 'coz you killed someone. You're evil you are, you know it. So you do as I say!" Coryn fell backwards as Garland flew at him, a little ball of unrestrained energy. Taylor stepped in, pulling the younger away from the older. He stroked the struggling Garland's hair as he talked to them.

"Hey, Garland… It's me, Taylor, shh." He murmured. "Coryn! Go and take your foul mouth somewhere else, far away from me and my guns!" Coryn disappeared out the door, and Taylor knew that things had changed, maybe forever. He stroked the five year olds hair again, feeling him shake. "Hey! Why you crying?" He crooned. "Didn't Miss Bowden say that she was going to give you a thingamajig, a beyblade today? Let's see this almighty thing then." Garland grinned slightly and delved into his pocket, pulling out something that looked rather like a spinning top, but was heavier and made of metal. "What's this?" He pointed to the bird that was engraved in the centre. Garland shrugged.

"I don't know. It wasn't there when Miss Bowden gave it to me, but, when Coryn was talking to me, I could hear this voice inside my head and it said _don't listen to him, young master. You are strong, and one day you will be great_. And I could see a bird, in my minds eye, or whatever Adaira calls it." His smooth brow furrowed for a second. "Hey, I remember now… Miss Bowden said they were called bit beasts, and the best bladers have them… Does that mean I'm going to be the best?"

"Does that answer your question?" Taylor sheathed his sabre and turned to Marcus. "When I saw Coryn beating up Garland because Garland didn't want to do his homework. Why? Are you joining us?" By us, he meant him and Adaira, Garland's sole providers and guardians.

"Y-Yeah. Coryn's given me the creeps for a while, to tell you the truth, Tay, but I didn't want to make a decision, in case I was wrong. But… This feels right. So, this birdie thingy is Apollon?"

"Don't let Garland hear you say that!" Taylor warned with a rare grin, as he picked up his bow.

"Pax?" Brooklyn looked up from his idyll trance to see Garland blocking the sun.

"Yes?" He said pleasantly. The day after a dark day was always a good day.

"What religion are you?" Garland sat down beside him. Brooklyn chuckled slowly.

"What odd questions you ask, Garland!" He smiled as Mystel sat down on the other side. "In answer to your question, I'm a Buddhist. You two?"

"Egyptian." Mystel mumbled, burying his head in his knees. Garland and Brooklyn exchanged a worried look, but decided not to say anything. Yet.

"Me? Catholic, my good friend." Garland stretched out under the sun, a look of pure delight on his face. Brooklyn shook his head in wonder before turning to Mystel.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice neutral. Mystel sighed quietly.

"It's just… Well, it's obvious you two are best friends, Crusher's best friend is his sister, and Ming Ming just gets on my nerves. Why can't I have a best friend?"

"Hey! You're our best friend." Garland chided gently. "I know what this is about! It's because Pax has a nickname and you don't, isn't it?" Mystel flushed, but nodded. "Well, the truth is, my Latin isn't too perfect, and you keep changing! But if you're so desperate, how does cicada sound?" Mystel raised an eyebrow.

"What does it mean?"

"It's a sort of… grasshopper." Brooklyn choked back a laugh. "I heard someone say that you floated like a butterfly, but stung like a bee. Insect, not many people know Latin, they'll never guess… at least I hope not." Brooklyn shook his head, shaking with silent laughter as Mystel launched himself at Garland, playfully pummelling him. Brooklyn joined in, sprinkling them with bits of grass. Suddenly, the three of them stopped, as they realised they were being watched.

Tyson stared at them, raising an eyebrow. Garland glared at him and he turned away. No doubt it would be all around the teams the way they were acting, after being so cold and heartless, they were even laughing.

Brooklyn looked up as someone knocked on the door. Mystel scrambled to get it, as Garland was asleep. It was Mr Dickinson. Mystel showed him in and tipped a glass of water over Garland to wake him up. He sat up blearily, his eyes wide and vague.

"M-Mr Dickinson!" He muttered, sitting up straighter.

"Sorry about waking you up, Garland, but I need to talk to you." Mr Dickinson watched as Garland got himself a drink, declining the offer for himself.

"We haven't poisoned it-" Brooklyn began. "But, I guess, if Garland's making it…" Garland threw a tea towel at him.

"What can we do for you, Mr Dickinson?" Mystel asked politely, whilst separating his two friends from their playful fight.

"Well, first of all, have you been in contact with Mr Balkov recently?" The three BEGA bladers shook their heads as one. "Also, Garland, I have received notification that you've been hassling one Tala Ivanov, whom you hospitalized earlier this month."

"I wasn't hassling him, I was returning something!" Garland protested angrily.

"That is beside the point. You have a restraining order written against him. Third, new laws have come into force, which mean that, if Mr Ivanov pursues his claim, you could be sued, or, even worse, imprisoned."

Garland turned pale and buried his head in his hands. Brooklyn put an arm around his shoulders.

"Oh yes, and, finally, I want you to come to the old building at three. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it had to be said."

And, with that, Mr Dickinson left.

Kylie Seabalt closed her eyes in the back of Bubba angrily. Generally, she got on quite well with her elder brother, despite his unfortunate tendency to blast 'Streetcar' out of Bubba's windows, but recently he had become unbearable, especially to poor Coryn. She had a sneaky suspicion that Marcus had joined the 'other' side, also known as 'The Cavaliers'. Clever Coryn had pointed out how similar it was to the civil war. Pater had sneeringly muttered something about Taylor's attitude in relation to this, and Taylor had scathingly muttered something shockingly rude which involved the words 'slap-head' and 'roundheads' along with a multitude of other, not so pleasant words. And so the two sides of the Seabalt family were named.

"Where the hell is Addy?" Marcus sighed, and climbed out again to go and look for his elder sister. He came back a few minutes later with Adaira in tow. "Change of plan, Kylie, you go with mater, pater, Coryn and Tay, Addy's coming with me, as she needs to be near Petrova."

Kylie rolled her eyes and stepped out the car. As she slipped into the middle seat, between Taylor and Coryn, she noticed the look that passed between Marcus and Adaira. _So I was right_, she thought smugly.

Garland shuddered as he stepped off the bus. It was only the fact that Brooklyn and Mystel would need his support that made him continues, and face the harrowing stares of the other teams.

"On your left," Brooklyn muttered. "Heading this way." Garland spun around and almost walked into Tyson.

"What are you doing here?" he said rudely. "It's only bladers that have been invited here!" Garland ignored Tyson, which only infuriated him more. "I can't wait until you get locked up for good!" Kai rolled his eyes and shared a glare with Garland. Beside him, Brooklyn shuddered and Garland moved away. And almost walked into his eldest brother.

"Tay!" He cried in surprise, throwing his arms around his elder brother.

"Hey Garland," Taylor said, his voice muffled.

"Umm, Gar? I think you better get off Taylor before he turns the same colour as his hair!" Marcus said, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder. Garland grinned sheepishly and turned away.

"Tay, Marcus, these are my friends, Brooklyn and Mystel. Pax, Cicada, these are my brothers Taylor and Marcus." The four boys acknowledged each other politely. Suddenly, Garland pricked up his ears as he heard some very familiar voices.

"Hey, I wonder what would happen if I told Tyson you were here…"

"You dare… I'm still your team captain!"

"What, you want me to carry you now?"

"Watch it, Hiwatari! These crutches are hard!"

"Ow." Garland nodded to the two Russians, absently. They suddenly switched to Russian for a few minutes, before Kai beckoned him over.

"Be back in a minute," he muttered to Brooklyn. The orange haired blader nodded and Garland slipped away.

"Hey." Kai said huskily.

"Hi." Garland muttered, wondering why they had called him over. Kai was barking something to Tala in Russian, encouraging him, egging him on.

"Umm… I just thought you would want to know – I… I'm… I'm dropping the case." Tala said, all in a rush. Garland blinked, trying to figure out what the red headed Russian had said. Tala grinned impishly as a look of dawning comprehension appeared on Garland's face.

"You're dropping the case? Why?"

"Because… you gave me the ring back, and you pretty much only did what Bryan did, and I'd have to hate Bryan to hate you… Why, aren't you pleased?" Kai smirked at Tala, who proceeded to hit him over the head with a crutch.

"Well, yeah, but, it's a bit… unexpected. When I talked to Mr Dickinson earlier on today, he seemed pretty certain you were going to pursue the claim."

"What about him? He's an all talk spaz!" Tala snickered. Garland nodded thoughtfully.

"See you round, yeah?" The three boys parted on amicable terms.

Garland scanned the crowd for Brooklyn and Mystel. Eventually, he saw them, at the edge of the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Garland asked as he reached them.

"Nothing much. It's just, we feel a bit odd here, I mean, after all that's happened." Brooklyn said in a small voice.

"You have as much right to be here as everyone else!" Garland growled indignantly. "We did nothing more than the Demolition Boys did two years ago!" Brooklyn shrugged.

"We might as well go. It's obvious we're not welcome here." Mystel said, hopping from one foot to the other in impatience. Garland nodded and began to lead the way through the back street alleys. Suddenly, he stopped and Mystel hurtled into the back of him.

"Ow! Why did you stop?" Mystel muttered, rubbing his forehead, which had hit the top of Garland's shoulder blades. He stumbled out from behind, only to freeze in horror.

"Hello Garland." Boris Balkov smirked. Garland made no noise, but his hands gave away how scared he was feeling by shaking. Brooklyn stepped up and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Why are you here?" He snarled, surprised at the strength of his voice. "WHY ARE YOU HERE? What more can you do?"

"I want your pretty friend Garland." Boris replied, deliberately vague. "And I'm going to get him." Quick as a flash, he had Garland with a knife to his throat. "Come any closer and I'll hurt him."

"Leave him alone!" Brooklyn took a step forward and regretted it instantly. Boris removed the knife from Garland's throat and Brooklyn thought he might do as he had ordered; Boris suddenly stabbed Garland in the stomach. Garland's eyes bulged with pain and he let out a ragged scream before he passed out. Brooklyn moved forward to help his friend.

There were two shots. Brooklyn threw himself on the ground as a bullet whizzed past his cheek, clipping it as it passed.

When he looked up again, Boris had gone. He looked at a pale Mystel, blood soaking through one of the shoulders of his robes. Mystel bit his lip, trying not to cry out as pain coursed through his small body. However, he couldn't stop the tears that streamed down his face. Brooklyn ripped the bottom of his shirt off and bound it tightly. Then, together, they began to walk back towards the amassed bladers.

"We are pleased to welcome to welcome the Seabalt family, who have kindly offered to host the ball. As some of you may know, they are related to Garland Seabalt, leader of BEGA Justice 5. Could Garland please step up to join his family?"

And Brooklyn had to raise his eyes, great amethyst eyes, and say:

"Please sir. He'd gone. Garland Seabalt was kidnapped a few minutes ago."

_Ooo… I love cliffys! Ok, actually I hate them, but I wanted to end it on this note. It's only a two part story, and it's definitely not a yaoi/slash story. It's a friendship story. Ok? I've already explained why it's probably OOC, so I don't have much more to say…_

_Just – R&R, please!_

_Phoenix_

_Xxx _


	2. Chapter 2

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

Summary: A fic about Garland's family and the effect they have on him. I pretty much invented the whole family, explanation inside. It will boil down to a Garland, Brooklyn and Mystel friendship fic, and I might throw in The Blitzkrieg Boys, just to keep things interesting.

_Unfortunately, I don't know half as much as I would like to about these guys. I've only seen Mystel once… I think it was against Max, if they ever bladed? And what I've seen of Garland and Brooklyn? I saw Garland's battle against Tyson, and I saw them right at the beginning, when they were watching Tyson blade against Crusher. And I saw a tiny bit of the Brooklyn vs. Kai battle, where Kai lost. If anyone can somehow send me clips or something, I would be very grateful. Contact me somehow. So enjoy…_

_Oh yes, one more thing. This takes place pretty much just after Boris was defeated, BEGA are all still under Boris, and Tala is still in his coma. And I made Garland English. I thought it would work better with the storyline._

_Apologies for OOCishness… and remember: Don't sue, Complain!_

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

Garland took another sobbing breath, forcing air to his lungs. He had to concentrate on something… He couldn't just let go.

_I'm sorry, Brooklyn._

Taylor and Marcus looked at each other and jumped off the stage as one. Adaira wasn't far behind. She couldn't help taking one last look behind her.

The rest of her family were still standing there. Coryn had a smile on his face.

Coryn sat down in the chair Mr Dickinson offered. He couldn't help it. He was relieved that his younger brother had been kidnapped. It wasn't fair. What did Garland have that he didn't? They were twins. Identical. So why did Taylor always favour Garland above him? All he wanted was to have the support of his elder brothers; his idols.

Was that too much to ask?

"Ok, Brooklyn. Tell us what happened." Taylor paced the floor as Marcus looked questioningly at his youngest brother's best friend. Brooklyn stumblingly recounted the whole event, from Tyson insulting Garland to Mystel being shot.

Taylor couldn't believe it. Of all the sports the Seabalt family were involved with, he would have said that Adaira's sport was the most dangerous, with him and Marcus tying for second. But beyblading? He didn't understand. He had followed Garland's progress from the minute Miss Bowden had given him Apollon, but he'd only watched his brother. This… man, Boris Balkov, the name meant nothing to him. Brooklyn endeavoured to explain it to him, but his mind was too excited to stay still.

"Boris?" A low voice interrupted his thoughts. "Boris Balkov?" The speaker was a young boy, who looked about the age of his younger brothers. He had grey hair that was spiked up in a style that looked like he'd never seen a hairbrush, let alone used one. He was wearing a short, biker style jacket and there were four jagged, shark fin style tattoos across his cheeks. There was a bandage over one eye, but the other looked keen and ready, sharp as a hawk's. Behind him, there were three other boys. One had long lavender hair that fell into his eyes and Taylor was sharply reminded of Garland. There was a certain similarity between the two teens, that wasn't only skin deep. Another was very large, and burly with it. Taylor knew he was tall, about six four, but this boy was taller than him, and far stronger. The third was quite different, yet again. With red hair that was sticking out in almost devil like horns from the sides of his head, and pale skin, with large ice blue eyes. This boy was on crutches, and there were several scars on his face. But what struck him the most was the way Brooklyn reacted. The orange haired blader staggered backwards, in what could only be described as fear. His azure eyes were clouded, fear was practically streaming out of them.

"Who are you?" Taylor finally found his voice, while Marcus put a protective arm around Brooklyn. The boy gave a slight bow.

"Kai Hiwatari. My companions, Bryan Kyznetsov," The lavender haired boy inclined his head, "Tala Ivanov," The red head gave a weak smile, "And Spencer Demonov." The blonde refolded his arms.

"Taylor Seabalt. My brother, Marcus and my sister Adaira." Taylor stretched out a hand and, after a minute, Kai took it. "Now will you explain why you're here and why Brooklyn seems to be terrified of you?" Politeness, he decided, could wait till later. Kai's eyes flashed angrily and he spat something in a foreign language before his facial expression returned to normal.

"The reason Brooklyn is terrified of me is because we were on opposing sides. And I defeated him. Like me, he's not used to failure. And like Garland." Taylor growled at the boy who dared to drop his absent brother's name into the conversation. "And I'm here to help. Although we were enemies, Brooklyn and I have the same foe."

"And you're sure about that?" Marcus snarled.

"We have two in common, maybe a third. The aforementioned Boris Balkov and… myself. I'm my own worst enemy. And the third? Possibly, my grandfather." Taylor blinked at the casual way the words seemed to come out of the boy's mouth, yet, every word was weighed, as though it had been thought over a hundred times. To Taylor, a talented linguist, it was painfully obvious that English wasn't his first language.

"Do you really think Voltaire has something to do with this?" Brooklyn mumbled, finding his voice. Kai closed his eyes, and it was Tala that answered.

"It stinks of a Hiwatari – oops, sorry Kai. Personally, I wouldn't put it past him." Kai shoved Tala in the back and the red head staggered before he remembered what crutches were used for. Bryan casually stepped in between the two bladers, preventing any further interaction.

"First step is to check for any sign that they've left behind. There probably won't be, but Boris wouldn't expect us to be helping. Bryan, Spencer, I want you to check the alley. Keep your phones on, if you find anything, call, then follow." The two bladers nodded and set off, determination in every line of their faces.

"And you? What will you do?" Marcus directed the question at Kai, who seemed to be shaking slightly. Kai muttered something in that strange language again, and turned away. Tala stayed for a moment more, an almost pitying glance on his face, before he limped after Kai.

The pain was becoming more bearable now, Garland realised. He wasn't afraid of pain, he didn't loath it, but he didn't exactly relish it.

Staunch Catholic he was, he couldn't help but think it was karma. Maybe he was beginning to feel the pain that he'd inflicted on Tala.

He daren't move, for fear that he'd upset the slow healing scar in his stomach. He was lucky. Yes, lucky. The knife must have missed his liver, though he didn't know enough about biology to figure out how, or what it might have hit instead. As soon as he was fifteen, he'd dropped the subject. And now, he was beginning to wish he hadn't.

"Bring him to me." The old man breathed, motioning slowly at Garland. Garland screwed up his eyes, amidst a stunning headache and tried to force his mind to work. Where had he seen this man before?

"Certainly sir." Boris grabbed at his arm, nearly pulling it out of his socket as he pulled him upwards, to stare into the grey eyes of the old man.

"He _is_ strong." The man murmured in something that seemed like admiration. "Yet again, Boris, you amaze me. Despite the downfall of BEGA, you still managed to pick out a strong blader. It is a pity he is not Russian, but it cannot be helped. Now, Boris. Does he remind you of someone? He wasn't at the abbey, was he?"

"No, Lord Voltaire." Garland's eyes almost popped out of his head. This was Kai's grandfather? This strong man, who couldn't be a day older than sixty five? Whenever he'd heard the name mentioned, he always imagined a very old man, in a wheelchair maybe, his life hanging on a thread… No wonder Kai was scared of him. "The similarity you see… It is possible that he could remind you of Bryan. Aside from the obvious physical similarities, they are both similar in spirit."

"Indeed?" The old man chuckled. "So you've shed blood, young man?"

"Yes," Garland muttered, shamefaced. After a prod from Boris, he added a "sir."

"That will be all." Voltaire walked from the room. As Boris left, Garland cast an eye to the girl that was behind him.

Who was she?

Bryan was the first to get to the alley. He loved running. He loved feeling the power, feeling the wind trying to hold him back. It made him feel free. It made him wonder about Falborg, actually. He looked backwards as Spencer came thundering behind him.

"Anything?" Spencer panted. Bryan shook his head.

"Only just got here." Bryan looked on the floor, at the evidence of a fight. To a boy as experienced in spilling blood as Bryan was, he could pretty much recreate what had happened. In his mind's eye, he could see Boris threatening Garland and Brooklyn. He was so wrapped up in his vision that he flinched when he heard the shot.

"Bryan? Earth to Bryan?" Spencer tapped lightly on his forehead. Bryan blinked suddenly and grabbed Spencer's wrist before he could hit him again. Spencer shrugged, confused, as Bryan grabbed onto a ledge at the top of the alley. With Falborg's eyes, he surveyed the scene. Falcon eyes soon saw tyre tracks.

"Make the call, Spencer!" He sang out, eyes gleaming with blood lust.

"What?"

"I said make the call!" And, with that, Bryan began to sprint after the car.

Taylor began to search through the boot of the family car, looking for his bag. When he eventually found it, he dragged it out, with Marcus' help.

As soon as it was on the floor, he ripped it open and began to search through it. He picked up his bow and weighed the chances of him actually being able to use it in his mind.

"Seriously, you aren't thinking of using that?" Kai and Marcus asked, as one. Taylor shook his head in a resigned manner and continued searching through his bag, throwing out his fencing kit without a second thought. Eventually, he got to his guns.

He had seven in all, ranging from a small Colt Anaconda revolver to a huge Empire Express double rifle. All of them were in perfect condition, with several boxes of ammo for each gun.

"Marcus," Taylor muttered, throwing him a gun. Then he handed Adaira one and, as an afterthought, Brooklyn.

"If you're having guns, we get them too." Kai said, his voice brooking no questions.

"Have you ever shot before?" Taylor questioned angrily.

"Have you ever shot to kill before?" Kai counter-fired.

"What, and you have?" Taylor snorted in disbelief as both Kai and Tala nodded.

"Both the guys we're after." Tala hoarsely. Taylor rolled his eyes and threw the two bladers guns. His disbelief vanished at the way they handled the guns. There was no doubt about it. These guys were experts.

Garland whimpered as Boris' foot collided with the scar on his stomach. As the blankness descended, he saw the girl again, her brown cape hood up, a strand of purple hair slipping out of it. That strand of purple was the last thing he saw before it all went black.

"Hey, come on." The voice floated around Garland's head as he fought tirelessly against his captors. "For darkness' sake! You fight worse than Bryan when he's injured!" Garland opened an eye at the statement. It was the girl he'd seen so often at Boris' side. "That's better." Her face swam into focus. Garland rubbed his eyes in shock.

She was younger than he'd first thought; about fourteen. She had huge orange eyes that were overfilling with emotion, almost tender, as she brushed the hair from his forehead. But, what surprised him the most was what she had done to her face. Along both her eyebrows were little rings, there were several star studs in her nose, a ring on her lip and, as she looked at him, Garland could see a little glimmer which proved the fact that she had her tongue pierced too. As she tucked her hair behind her eyes, he heard a metallic jangle. "You like?" She asked mischievously, motioning to the piercings. "I only got my tongue done a couple of weeks ago. My father nearly killed me, but it was worth it."

"Your father?" When Garland was little, he used to wonder what Flavia would have been like. He had hoped that she was at least half as spunky as the girl in front of him.

"Boris… is my father."

Bryan dropped down into the room silently. Spencer followed, almost as quiet. To Bryan's highly trained ear, it sounded like a herd of elephants.

"He'll have heard that." Bryan noted as they slipped effortlessly through the corridors.

"Not everyone is as sensitive as you and Tala." The blonde grumbled, as Bryan heightened the pace into a run. As Spencer began to run, slower than Bryan, fragments of the conversation with Kai floated through his mind.

"…_I mean it, Spence. No heroics. All you do is scope the place for grandfather, scope for Garland and anyone else we know, get the coordinates, then leave."_

"_But… What about if he's hurt?"_

"_He already is hurt, idiot! That's what guns are for!"_

"_I don't want to be the one to tell Bryan…"_

"_Well, tough luck. **No heroics**__If you do, I'll kick you out the team!"_

Spencer groaned as Bryan turned another corner. So the falcon didn't tire easily. The whale did.

Kai jammed the Colt Anaconda into his belt loops angrily. Why was it always him? Why was it always him that Boris was after? Ok, that was a rhetorical question, he knew the answer to that one. Beside him, Tala was practicing walking up and down without his crutched. With a sudden curse in Russian, he toppled forward, and would have landed on his face, if Kai hadn't stepped caught him. The blue haired blader resisted the urge to drop Tala again. Tala stood up with a sigh.

"And the use of me going after Boris is….?" Tala muttered in Russian. "He could knock me over with a feather and I'm not particularly bothered about Garland being in there! He can rot in hell as far as I'm concerned!"

"I know you don't mean that. Wasn't it you who said that if you hated Garland, you'd have to hate Bryan, and I have a very good source that says you don't hate Bryan. And anyway, you dropped the case!"

"Yeah, well…" Tala flushed under Kai's smirk. "That was because… He'd probably beat me up again!" Kai shook his head and turned away from his best friend. Friend or foe, Tala felt the same way he did. **Nobody** should have to suffer what they went through.

And Kai knew that, when push came to shove, the red head would kill for Garland.

Garland whimpered as the whip cracked over his back. Again. And again. And again.

"Would you like the pain to stop, boy?" Voltaire asked, sitting up in his chair. Garland nodded, his eyes glazed and misty. At the minute, he would have done anything to lose the pain. "Would you kill to stop it?" Garland shook his head, although every movement cost him more of his consciousness. Voltaire frowned and motioned to Boris, who gave the silvery-blue haired blader a kick in the ribs, which sent him flying. Garland paled as Boris kicked him again, as he heard a crack.

The pain was agonizing. Whatever had been in that serum that Boris had injected into his blood stream, he didn't know, but it stopped him from falling unconscious. And that was all Garland wanted to do… Close his eyes and drift… feel his body leave… feel the pain go… forever…

But instead, all he was left with was pain. His body was flooded with pain and, as he moved, more came. As his broken rib pierced the surface. Garland screamed in pain. But he wouldn't cry. No matter what Voltaire, or Boris did to him, he would never cry. But this time…

"Would you kill to stop it?" Slowly, he nodded.

Spencer sprinted back along the corridors, an unconscious Bryan slumped across his shoulders. He slipped into a side street, holding his breath as his tormentors ran onwards.

"Come on Bryan!" He muttered, laying the younger boy on the floor. Casting an expert eye over the damage that Bryan had had inflicted on him, he concluded that the lavender haired Russian should live. Should.

"Spence…?" Bryan rasped in confusion. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" Spencer pulled off his short jacket and wrapped it around Bryan's shivering frame. "We found Boris and Voltaire, and Garland. And Hester." Bryan shook his head.

"I don't remember anything, Spence. What did he do to me?" Bryan turned away from his friend, tears streaming down his face. "I'm so scared… Why were we looking for them? Why weren't we running?" Spencer wrapped an arm around the younger boy, feeling his whole body shaking with the ragged sobs that were being torn from his body.

He knew he'd never get there to warn the others.

Marcus cast a suspicious eye over the bladers.

"Why isn't anyone but you guys helping?" He asked Kai.

"Because most people hate Garland." He said simply, fiddling unconsciously with his scarf.

"What?"

"It's like Bryan. Most people hate him too."

"But… why?" Marcus was shocked, to say the least.

"Because he worked for Boris."

"Apparently, so did you! People don't hate you!" Marcus and Kai glared at each other.

"That's because I didn't put anyone in a coma." Kai said calmly.

"What? Who? How?" Marcus was shaking. He couldn't stop.

"Garland put Tala in a coma. During a beyblade match. Just… I guess it was exhaustion, but that's why Tala's on crutches." Kai walked away, leaving Marcus Seabalt flabbergasted.

"Shoot him. I've seen you handle a gun launcher before, I know you can handle a real gun. Shoot him, and anyone else who gets in your way." Voltaire handed him the gun casually.

"Yes sir." Garland muttered, shamefaced. Across the room, he saw the girl glaring at him. As soon as Voltaire had left, he walked over to her. "What?"

"Now I've seen it all. Innocent people could be killed by you, Garland."

"Who are you, and how do you know my name? All I know is you're Boris' daughter!"

"My name's Hester. I know your name because you attacked my boyfriend!" The girl snapped back. "I thought you would be different to everyone else! I've spent my life with screwed up guys, but I thought you would be like them. I never realised how similar you all were. But go. Go and kill someone. May you rot in hell" Hester spat on the ground.

Garland left without a word.

Adaira quietened Petrova for the fourth time in as many minutes. Beside her, Marcus leant against the wall. Beside him, Taylor fiddled with the lock of his Empire Express. Then there were Tala and Kai. Both boys were silent, but you could tell how nervous they were, although she wasn't sure if it was because of what Marcus had told her or something else.

She nibbled her lip. _Garland, come back to us._

Brooklyn stared at his gun in fascination. It was the closest he'd ever been to a weapon, if a gun launcher didn't count. He almost smiled as he thought of what Garland would say about Pax and a gun… somehow, they didn't seem to go together.

"You ok?" Tala said quietly, shading his eyes in the bright sunlight.

"Yeah… I think so." Brooklyn replied, confused. Why was Tala talking to him? For that matter, why was Tala even helping them to get Garland back?

"Push comes to shove, you probably won't have to shoot anyone… well anyone that matters anyway." Tala smirked, making Brooklyn even more confused. Tala was acting like they were… friends. He'd never had a friend before, save Garland and Mystel, of course.

"So Boris doesn't count then." Brooklyn replied. A real smile appeared on Tala's face, which was a rare occasion in itself. Brooklyn had never seen that happen.

"Hey! You are human after all!" Tala chuckled softly, before Kai barked something in Russian. His eyes were big in his face and he looked extremely agitated.

"What's up?" Tala asked in Russian, trying to calm the younger boy. Kai shuddered and turned away.

"Spencer called, about five minutes ago." Tala raised an eyebrow at his best friend in confusion.

"And…"

"Grandfather's there. Hester too." Tala's eyes widened at the mention of his girlfriend. "Apparently, Bryan's pretty cut up about something."

"How cut up?" Tala didn't think he wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Bad. He was crying." Kai was fiddling with the Anaconda now, his nervousness showing obviously to Tala. Tala reached out and grabbed Kai's hand away from the gun, before he accidentally shot himself. Kai looked up at his best friend and Tala was amazed to see tears threatening to overspill in his eyes. Then Kai blinked and the tears disappeared, as though they'd never been there. Tala put an arm around Kai's shoulders, and it wasn't just to steady himself.

"Come on, mate." He muttered in Russian. "You've never wanted to cry before, so what else has been said?"

"Nothing! Honest. Tal, I'd tell you. It's just… everything seems to be falling around our ears at the moment, I mean; you went into a coma, which wasn't exactly fun for any of us, we lost… **again **and… well, I guess Boris coming back would be the third…" Kai trailed off as his purple eyes clouded over, lost in thought. Tala ruffled the younger boy's hair playfully and Kai gave him a shove – equally playfully.

Garland checked the load in his gun. He'd shot several times – Taylor had taught him – but he'd never shot to kill, or even hurt someone. It had always been targets, maybe clay pigeons. And now he was about to kill someone. He looked up as the van shuddered to a halt. It had been driven by the one guy Boris and Voltaire trusted most of all – Boris. As Garland clambered out the car, he clapped a hand on his shoulder. Garland winced and flinched away. Hester may have bandaged his scars up well, but no amount of excellent bandaging could prevent the twinges he got every time he moved. And Boris had broken several whip marks when he touched his shoulder.

Garland took one final breath and walked into the midst of bladers.

It was Mystel who saw him first.

"Garland!" He cried, pointing to the silvery-blue haired blader. Taylor started in shock and began to run towards his little brother.

"Don't come any closer!" Garland pulled out the pistol, aiming it with surprisingly steady hands.

"What? Garland, it's me. Taylor." Taylor and Marcus looked at each other.

"I know who you are. Tay, I'm sorry. But I have to do this."

"Do what? I don't understand…" Taylor trailed off as Garland pointed the gun at Kai, who took it calmly. Beside him, Tala tensed. Kai held out a hand to stop his best friend from launching at Garland.

"Going to shoot me?" Kai breathed. "I can't stop you, Garland, but I think I deserve at least one thing. Why?"

Tears filled Garland's eyes as that simple question threatened to do what pain and torture couldn't. The way Kai could face down the barrel of a gun with no regrets; even welcome the thought of dying, whilst he had sold his soul because he couldn't handle a little pain. A single tear tracked down his cheek as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Garland whimpered as he cocked the gun. Tala tensed further and prepared to launch at Garland. But with Kai in front of him… Then Garland fired the gun. Even Kai was completely unprepared for what happened next.

Brooklyn jumped in front of him.

Both Kai and Tala were thrown backwards by the force at which the gun was shot and Kai knew instantly that it had gone into his body as well. Just scraped his side though, the elder boy's body had refracted the bullet.

"Brooklyn!" Garland screamed in horror. Kai scrambled up to see Garland place the gun to the bottom of his jaw.

Kai knew he had to act fast to prevent anyone dying. He whipped out the Colt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Marcus screamed as Kai aimed the gun.

"No! It's too risky!" Taylor yelled. Kai ignored them and cocked the Anaconda. Muttering a swift prayer to whoever was up there, he fired the gun.

Garland screamed in rage as he dropped the gun, now completely useless. Kai had shot it through the middle. He fell to his knees, childlike sobs racking his whole body. Taylor and Adaira ran to the boy they had raised so lovingly, Taylor wrapping his arms around his little brother, Adaira stroking his hair.

Mystel and Tala knelt down beside Brooklyn as he struggled to sit up. The bullet had struck his hip and gone straight through into Kai.

"I'm fine." Brooklyn said through gritted teeth. "Where's Garland?" Tala pointed to the three Seabalts silently. Suddenly, there was a sharp intake and a barrage of Russian swearwords. Tala covered his ears playfully.

"What have you done now?" Tala sighed. Kai turned pale and lifted up the edge of his shirt. Then he held up the bullet that, until recently had been lodged in his side.

"I was trying to get it out… when I managed to kinda… pull it through my side…" Kai said, looking at the blood spotted ground. The damage was hard to miss. Tala could poke his finger into Kai's insides.

"You idiot!" Tala muttered, standing up shakily.

"Tala! Kai!" Brooklyn suddenly hissed, pointing to where Garland had just stood up. As one, the three bladers reached for the guns in their belt hoops.

"I should have known… Should have known you'd mess it up." Boris sneered at Garland.

"I shot someone, didn't I?" Garland shot back, reassured by his elder brother's hand on his shoulder.

"So you're Boris Balkov." Taylor growled. Behind him, he could hear Marcus, Kai, Brooklyn, Adaira and Tala cocking their guns.

Suddenly, someone tapped Boris on the shoulder. Boris turned around to be met with a fist in his face.

"That's for what you did to Bryan," Spencer said. Then he kicked out at Boris' unprotected stomach. "That's for what you did to Garland." He grabbed Boris' head between his hands and clapped his palms on either side. "And that was because I felt like it." Spencer smirked as Boris crumpled to the floor.

Behind him, Bryan waved slightly. Kai and Tala collapsed with laughter at the sight of the lavender haired boy wearing Spencer's jacket. It reached down to his knees!

"We couldn't let you have all the fun," Bryan's voice was almost back to normal as he walked into the arena of shocked bladers. "We already took out the goons in the van."

Garland flushed, looking incredibly ashamed of himself. "Don't beat yourself up about it." Bryan said quietly as he passed Garland. "No harm was done. But next time, if you're going to shoot someone, could you please make it Tyson?" Garland looked at the younger boy, a smile beginning to form on his face. Bryan looked pretty beat-up, with his lavender hair barely hiding a deep gash on his forehead.

"I'll try." Garland muttered, equally quietly.

"DUDE!" Tyson ran up to them. "What happened here – Kai?" Kai scowled and swore in Russian.

"Language." Spencer shook his head in mock disapproval. Bryan and Tala just looked at each other.

"You weren't bothered when everything else was going on, so why should I tell you now?" The Russians turned to go.

"Kai! Bryan! TALA!" Garland ran after them, wincing at every step he took. The three boys turned around as one. "Are you idiots? You need to get checked out by the meds, especially you, Kai!" The Russians grinned sheepishly. Tala groaned and leant against Kai, rubbing his knees in agony.

"I think I've shattered my kneecaps." The red head muttered. Kai rolled his eyes and grabbed one of Tala's arms, hoisting it over his shoulder. Bryan just stormed on ahead. Garland paused for a minute, slightly confused, before grabbing his other arm and beginning to help him walk.

"Two fractured kneecaps, a deep flesh wound requiring stitches, a pierced intestine, a broken hip bone, two gun shot wounds, four different sets of whip marks, a broken rib that's pierced the skin, superficial facial injuries which will also require stitching, a broken shoulder bone… good grief, what have you children been doing?" The nurse looked at the six boys, who looked at each other sheepishly.

"It's called Beyblading, miss!"

Brooklyn closed his eyes and wished that his life could remain like that forever. Him and Garland sitting back to back, Mystel lying back on Bryan's knees, Tala leaning over the edge of the table, just so he could poke Kai, who was sitting cross-legged under the table.

Yes, life was good. For once in his life, Brooklyn Kingston had friends. Maybe it was only for the day, maybe it would change when the next tournament came down, but Brooklyn didn't care.

Life was good.

_Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed that story, thank you to the two wonderful people who reviewed – Winter-Rae and Milla Kuznetsov (sorry if I spelt your names wrong) it really meant a lot to me!_

_I might look into writing more about the Seabalt family, and I have a sequel that is planned in my head!_

_Peace out –_

_Phoenix_

_xxx_


	3. Chapter 3: What Might Have Happened

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

Summary: A fic about Garland's family and the effect they have on him. I pretty much invented the whole family, explanation inside. It will boil down to a Garland, Brooklyn and Mystel friendship fic, and I might throw in The Blitzkrieg Boys, just to keep things interesting.

_Unfortunately, I don't know half as much as I would like to about these guys. I've only seen Mystel once… I think it was against Max, if they ever bladed? And what I've seen of Garland and Brooklyn? I saw Garland's battle against Tyson, and I saw them right at the beginning, when they were watching Tyson blade against Crusher. And I saw a tiny bit of the Brooklyn vs. Kai battle, where Kai lost. If anyone can somehow send me clips or something, I would be very grateful. Contact me somehow. So enjoy…_

_Oh yes, one more thing. This takes place pretty much just after Boris was defeated, BEGA are all still under Boris, and Tala is still in his coma. And I made Garland English. I thought it would work better with the storyline._

_Apologies for OOCishness… and remember: Don't sue, Complain!_

_Explanation for this chapter: This is not a follow on from the last chapter. THIS IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE LAST CHAPTER! It is merely following some of the ideas that I thought about whilst writing the last chapter. Oh yes, also, when the sequel is up, it follows on from the last chapter. SO DON'T ASK ANY AWKWARD QUESTIONS! Oh yeah, and it's really short. Sorry about that guys, but I couldn't really think of much to write!_

Who's the First to Hit the Ground?

"Bryan?" Spencer turned around to the younger boy, shocked beyond belief. Something Boris had done had got to Bryan, but what? Bryan took another shuddering breath

"Spence…" His voice was barely audible above the storm that had begun. "I'm… sorry Spence… Goodbye…"

"No!" Spencer was shaking his friend by this point. "No, Bryan! Don't give up! Please don't let Boris win!"

But it was too late. Bryan had gone.

Coryn sat up, his heart in his mouth. How could his parents just sit there? How could Kylie? How, for that matter, could he? He closed his eyes.

All this because of a stupid fight, years ago. He'd been a smarmy git then, he wasn't proud of it.

_Please don't be dead, Garland. I never got the chance to say sorry._

Spencer sighed and closed his team mate's eyes, his face wet with tears.

All his life, he'd thought they would always be together. Spencer, the adult, fatherly like one, Bryan, the angry teenager, yet so funny when you got to know him, Tala, the playful, flirty one, Kai, the rebel, so protective and so angry and Ian, the little one, who they all teased.

But that had ended with Black Dranzer. After Kai destroyed the Abbey, things would never be the same again.

They had thought the reason Kai hadn't acknowledged them when he became a Demolition Boy was because he didn't remember them. But they soon learnt the real reason.

He didn't want to.

He was so scared, so damn scared of being abandoned by his 'friends', so damn scared of being proved wrong that he had blocked out everything good that the others could still remember.

And then he'd watched them fall. Fall from grace, fall from that pedestal of fear…

And now one of them was dead because of him.

Kylie's eyes widened as Coryn jumped down from the make shift stage that had been set up for them. She shrugged her shoulders, and followed him, more gently. She was a lady, after all. She arrived in time to hear Coryn and Taylor's conversation.

"What are you doing here?" Angry. To the point. Taylor.

"I want to help. Garland's my brother too!" Sweet. Pure. Coryn.

"Funny way you have of showing it!" Annoying. Sarcastic. Yup, that was Marcus.

"I know I haven't been perfect… Screw it, I've been the worst sibling on the planet, but I really want to help!"

"Come on, Tay. If he wants to help." Motherly. Pathetic. Adaira. Who else would it be?

"Besides, if it's all of us, then he doesn't stand a chance!" Kylie added, placing her hand on Coryn's shoulder.

Hey, she may not like his principles, but she had to agree with Coryn, right?

Spencer adjusted his lost team mates' position on his shoulders as he tramped through the streets of Tokyo, silently.

The tears he might have shed for Bryan had grown cold and turned to tears of hate.

_I will get my revenge._

"We're a team, right? The Seabalts." Coryn looked at his elder siblings. Marcus gave him an absentminded smile before he pulled his helmet on. Adaira grinned at him, securing her hair under her hard hat. Kylie narrowed her eyes slightly, and gave her racket a swing. Taylor's mouth tightened and he gripped the handle of his gun. Five pairs of grey eyes watched as Garland staggered into the clearing.

Only Coryn noticed he had a gun.

Placing his team mate on the floor, Spencer stepped up to join his remaining friends.

Coryn bit his lip nervously and dropped the ball on the ground. Rubbing his hands together, he kicked it with such force that it struck the gun out of his younger brother's hands. Adaira, Marcus and Kylie ran to help him.

Behind him, Coryn could feel Taylor's approval. He looked back. Taylor smiled at him. Only a small smile, but it was a start.

The Seabalts had split. Kai and Tala paled as they heard what had happened to their friend.

And Boris Balkov stepped in, a smile on his face.

He smiled as he raised the gun. Smiled as he cocked it. Smiled as he shot it. Smiled as he heard the scream.

"SPENCER!"

Marcus drove Bubba into position, cutting off Boris' escape route. Boris shrugged and turned to the left. Adaira and Petrova turned up, blocking the path. And nobody wants to mess with a horse. He turned to the right.

Apollon, spinning slowly but viciously, stopped him there. And, if there was any doubt in Boris' mind, it disappeared with one look at Garland's face.

He turned to face the front, the only option left.

"You mess with one Seabalt-" Taylor snarled, cocking the gun.

"You mess with all the Seabalts." Coryn completed, kicking the football. It struck Boris' legs, making him fall to the floor.

There was a shot.

It was over.

_Sorry guys, this doesn't do the other two chapters justice, does it? I just wanted to write this because I've been lying in bed for the past two days thinking 'Should I kill off Bryan and Spencer? Should I make Coryn and Kylie good?' So I decided to do just that._

_When you read the sequel, please don't bombard me with pointless reviews saying 'BUT BRYAN'S DEAD!' or 'CORYN'S GOOD, ISN'T HE?'_

_Basically, this didn't happen._

_It's what might have happened._


End file.
